Eighteen With A Bullet
by Mrs Pepperpot
Summary: Beth Greene is about to turn eighteen, but will she live long enough to celebrate her birthday, and will she get the present she wants?
1. Chapter 1

**This was just a little fic-let I wrote while I was struggling with my other Rick/Beth fic. It doesn't really have anything to do with the Pete Wingfield song 'Eighteen With A Bullet.' other than the use of the title. I'm not sure that it really came out the way I intended, which was as a more light-hearted sojourn into the world of The Walking Dead. I think the trouble is that even the lighter moments in TWD still have some darkness to them... Anyway, I hope you all enjoy reading it. I own nothing, and Robert Kirkman et al and AMC own the whole shebang! - Mrs P. **

* * *

Eighteen With A Bullet

Chapter 1

Beth Greene sat alone in the prison yard and took out her gun. It was only missing one round, and that had been fired to stop a fight. Tomorrow was going to be her eighteenth birthday, and she wasn't sure how she felt about that. It was supposed to be a significant milestone in a person's life, but the world had changed so much, it seemed to her that it was just another day. It was meant to be a kind of rite of passage into adulthood, but she felt that moment had already passed. Beth looked at the faint scar on her left wrist and thought about how stupid she had been, to want to kill herself. She still didn't want to end up being torn apart by walkers, but so long as she had her loved ones around her, she knew that she would fight to survive. Another reason for living had recently presented itself, as she had come to realise that she harboured strong romantic feelings for a certain someone. He gave her something to look forward to everyday, just by being around her, whether he knew it or not. She tucked the gun back into her pocket and was about to go back to the cell block when she heard Carol calling out to her.

"Oh, Beth, you haven't seen Jordan, have you?" She questioned.

Jordan was one of the little boys who had joined them from Woodbury. He was only four years old and he was a quiet, withdrawn child. It seemed that he had somehow slipped out of the cell block undetected, and now no one could find him.

Beth started to look around and she just managed to catch a glimpse of the boy as he slipped through a tiny gap in the perimeter fence.

"Over here." She shouted to alert the others as she started to run to catch up to him.

Jordan had already gone through the small breach and had run into the nearby woodland. There didn't appear to be any walkers in that area, but the shouting from the group was starting to draw them from further around the perimeter. Beth made it to the small gap in the wire and started to ease herself through it. She was sure that she could catch up to the boy before he got too far away. She ignored Carol's pleas for her to wait, because she knew that any delay would mean that they would lose sight of him altogether. With Rick, Daryl, Maggie, Michonne and Sasha out on a supply run, they only had a few people available who could capably mount a search and rescue mission.

Beth made a dash for the woodland, before any of the roaming walkers reached that section. She was so focused on trying to keep Jordan in her sights, that she hadn't given due consideration to the weaponry that she was carrying to defend herself. She had a knife and a gun with five bullets in it, which almost certainly wouldn't be enough. She paused for a second to try and get a fix on Jordan's location. There was a rustling just up ahead that sounded like someone running and so she sprinted off in that direction. The noise was always just in front of her but it was leading her further out, and she couldn't be sure that it definitely was the boy. She had to concede that it was more likely to have been some kind of wild animal, when Jordan was still nowhere to be found. Beth was forced to admit, with the realisation that she had completely lost her bearings that she was out of her depth. It had been impulsive of her to take off like that when she had no tracking experience. It had all seemed so straightforward when she had set out, though. Her only goal had been to recover the boy and get back to the prison as quickly as possible.

There were only a couple more hours of daylight left, if that, and Beth tried to keep calm so that she could figure out her next move. She had been in these woods before; when they'd been hiding out from the Governor, and when they'd first found the prison. All she had to do now was to retrace her steps and find her way back. She couldn't risk calling out to Jordan for fear that it would attract walkers to her and to him if he was still nearby. Beth started to carefully and vigilantly make her way through the woodland, in what she hoped, was the direction of the prison. She paused as she caught sight of a walker ambling around just ahead of her, and she took steps to avoid it. But then three more came into view and she ducked down behind a tree to try and prevent them from noticing her. Two of them staggered past her as she held her breath, but the other two seemed to have picked up on her scent and they were dangerously close to discovering her.

* * *

Glenn was growing frantic back at the prison; he had scouted the edge of the woodland with his binoculars and had seen no trace of either Beth or Jordan. He only had Tyreese, Carol and Karen who could ably assist him in any search and recovery mission, but they couldn't all desert their watch posts at the same time. He had no idea how long it would be until the others returned from their supply run, and the light was fading fast.

"My Bethy is out there somewhere, and the boy, we can't just leave them." Hershel was going out of his mind with worry.

Glenn slung his rifle over his shoulder.

"I'll go look for them, they can't have gotten too far, these woods aren't that deep and there's a road up ahead. I'll do a sweep of this section and then I'll come back here to check in. They might have had to take a different route back if they ran into walkers, so keep a watch on all sides of the perimeter." He directed as he made for the gate.

The others looked on anxiously as Glenn disappeared beyond the tree line, and they took up their positions to keep watch from. Carol was pacing restlessly around the gate and she kept her eyes focused on the woods for any signs of activity. The whole thing was bringing back painful memories of Sophia for her, and she desperately hoped that the outcome would not be the same this time around. A rustling noise from somewhere close by caught her attention and she began to scan the area to pinpoint the source. There was something moving in the bushes up ahead but she couldn't tell if it was a walker, or an animal, or something else. She signalled over to Tyreese who had a telescopic lens on his rifle, and she pointed to where the noise was coming from. He studied the area for a moment and then gave her a thumbs up sign. Carol swiftly made her way out of the gate and chopped an approaching walker through the head, as she made her way over to the bushes. There she found an unharmed but terrified little boy, and she scooped Jordan up in her arms. They ran for the gate but the way was blocked, Carol wasn't sure what to do when she suddenly heard the roar of Daryl's motorcycle. He came in around her and quickly dispatched the two lurking walkers.

"What the hell's goin' on?" He questioned as he helped them through the gate.

Rick and the rest of the supply run group were following on behind them in the truck and they all continued on into the prison yard. Carol explained what had happened as she handed the boy over to Karen and Hershel so that they could check him over.

"Beth and Glenn are still out there?" Maggie questioned with a hint of panic in her voice.

The light had all but faded, as Rick, Michonne, Maggie, Carol and Daryl made their way down to the perimeter fence. They had fixed it and secured it the best that they could, but obviously it wasn't sufficient to keep small children in. However, it was still keeping the walkers out, which was something.

"Glenn should be checking back in soon." Carol said as they all scanned the treeline.

The distant sound of two gunshots being fired in quick succession suddenly broke through their silent vigil.

"Over there." Daryl said as he pointed to the left.

"Me, you and Michonne will go check it out. Maggie, you stay here with Carol and keep a lookout." Rick commanded.

The three of them dispatched a handful of walkers as they headed into the woodland. When they had gone a short way in, Daryl hushed them up so that he could try and pick up on any trace of either Beth or Glenn. He heard the sound of a succession of twigs snapping nearby and he signalled to his two companions to be on the alert. They drew their weapons in readiness as they listened to the unmistakable noise of someone running in their direction.

"Glenn?" Rick exclaimed with surprise as the young man came bounding through the undergrowth towards them.

"I heard shots fired from somewhere over here." He explained and they all looked around.

"It must've been Beth." Rick said hopefully.

Daryl pointed up ahead and he set off walking. The light had now faded altogether and they were in darkness except for a couple of flashlights.

"I'm not sure it's wise; all of us continuing on like this." Rick said.

"We can't just leave her." Daryl said fiercely.

"No, no, of course not, but we can't keep going on in the dark if we don't find Beth soon. We don't know what else is lurking out there." Rick reasoned.

His role as leader demanded that he considered the needs of the many, over the few. No matter how desperately he wanted to find Beth safe and unharmed.

"Let's at least check a little further out, the shots definitely came from over here." Glenn argued.

They agreed to continue searching for a while longer, and they followed on as Daryl tracked through the woodland.

* * *

Beth was almost out of breath, and she couldn't see where she was running to. Her heart was pounding from fear and exertion. She had been forced to shoot the two walkers that had caught her scent and then she had high-tailed it out of there as fast as she could. Once darkness had fallen, she couldn't be sure that she was still headed in the right direction for the prison. There were no familiar landmarks or anything else that could point the way, and she was lost and terrified. The trees started to thin out and she hoped that she would soon spot the remains of the guard towers, but instead she came out by the roadside. Beth quickly realised that she had gotten turned around somehow and that she was now on the wrong side of the woodland. The only thing she could do now was to follow along the road until it turned off towards the prison.

There were a couple of walkers up ahead, but Beth hoped that she would be able to dodge them without using any more bullets. She took a few deep breaths and tried to hold her nerve as she set off down the roadside. The sky above was filled with stars and she couldn't help but take a quick glance at them. It reminded her of being back on the farm, before all of this nightmare had started. She would steal out onto the porch at night just to look up at the distant constellations. There was no time to appreciate its beauty now though, because she needed to keep her eyes focused on her surroundings. Beth had been looking for any sign that Jordan might have made it this far out, but there was nothing. She didn't know that he was already safe and sound back at the prison.

Beth wondered if any of the others were out looking for her, and she presumed that they would be. She had a fleeting romantic notion of Rick riding to her rescue and scooping her up in his arms. She had been finding herself fantasising about him more and more in recent times. It wasn't just his saving of her father, and of Maggie, that endeared him to her. But he had also been such a hero in her eyes, through good times and bad, although there had been more of the latter. Beth felt like she had been getting closer to him due to her taking care of Judith. Rick had been very appreciative of everything that she did for his baby, and they had often found themselves in each other's company when he was spending time with his daughter. She knew that he was unlikely to ever think of her as a potential lover, but she couldn't stop her own imagination from going into overdrive. If he had ever noticed her staring at him for a little too long, then he hadn't said anything. Rick also hadn't rebuffed her increasingly frequent affectionate gestures. A hug here, a kiss on the cheek there, and a squeeze of his hand on occasion, had all seemed perfectly acceptable to him. Beth just craved to be near him, even if her love for him was forever unrequited.

The walkers ahead began to turn around and Beth feared that they were on to her. She scooted back behind the tree line and tried to get past them without them catching up to her. But her foot got caught under a branch and she went crashing to the ground. There was no time left for her to get clear of the walkers and so she pulled herself up and aimed her gun. She managed to shoot the nearest one straight through the head, but her second shot went awry in the darkness. Beth knew that she only had one bullet left, and so she tried to evade the remaining walker by running back into the woods. It was risky because she couldn't see what was up ahead and there were likely to be more lurkers that had been drawn in by the gunfire. She heard a lot of rustling coming from somewhere close by, and her heart began pounding as she tried to see what was coming towards her. The walker from the road had followed her into the woods and it was hot on her heels, so she had no choice but to keep moving. She held up her knife in one hand and her gun in the other and kept running until she unexpectedly collided with something solid in the darkness. She was knocked onto her back by the force of it and she looked up in terror as a dark figure loomed over her.


	2. Chapter 2

Eighteen With A Bullet

Chapter 2

Daryl kept leading the group farther out despite Rick's protestations. It wasn't that he didn't want to find Beth, because he absolutely did, and he had grown very fond of her in recent times. But they had been out there for well over an hour and it seemed like they were essentially going around in circles. He couldn't help but think of what had happened with Sophia, and he didn't want to repeat past mistakes. Rick was doing his best to persuade them that they should return to the prison when they suddenly heard two gunshots being fired from somewhere close by. Daryl tracked the sound and bounded ahead through the thinning trees to the roadside. Michonne and Glenn followed on but Rick lingered behind as he thought he heard someone running towards him from the right-hand-side. He carefully took a few steps towards the sound and through a particularly dark area where a group of large trees were almost joined together. He stood still for a moment when suddenly, someone came sprinting towards him and crashed head on into his chest. The impact winded him and he gasped as he stumbled forward towards the person who was now lying on the ground.

Beth had her finger on the trigger as the dark figure staggered closer to her. She knew that it was her last bullet and that after that she would only have her knife. She wasn't sure that she could get a clear head shot in anyway, not given how dark it was. Her finger twitched on the trigger as the figure drew closer to her.

"Beth?"

She recognised Rick's voice at once and something inside of her broke. She started to sob at the thought that she had come so close to shooting him, and in relief that he had found her.

"Hey, it's alright." He said as he reached down to help her to her feet.

Beth was shaking so bad from the shock of it all that her legs felt unsteady beneath her. Rick had to hold her fast against his chest to stop her from sinking back down to the ground. She gratefully clamped her arms around him without even considering the etiquette of her actions. She took solace in the feel of his strong muscular body pressed so close to hers.

"Are you hurt?" He whispered in her ear.

"No." She managed to shakily reply.

"Are you okay to walk? We need to find the others and get back to the prison." Rick said.

Beth found that she felt a little steadier after taking comfort in his arms and she indicated that she was ready to go. But she kept a firm grip on his hand as they set off walking, and he seemed to be fine with that. Rick had grown accustomed to her tactile nature, and as she seemed to be an affectionate person, he didn't attribute any special significance to it. He had found, to his great surprise, that he was pitifully grateful for her hugs. There was no one else who ever sought to offer him comfort or thanks, in quite the same way.

They headed off in the direction that Daryl, Michonne and Glenn had gone but by the time they got to the roadside they had disappeared. They had passed by the body of a slain walker, so they knew that they were on the right path. But a quick scout around revealed no sign of the rest of the search party.

"We can't stay out here all night. We're just gonna have to trust that they'll make their way back to the prison, and we gotta do the same." Rick told her as they set off hand in hand down the road.

They walked in silence for a while as they both kept a vigilant eye on their surroundings for any threats, or for any sign of their friends. Then Beth broke the silence with a sudden realisation.

"Oh Lord, I got in such a state back there, I forgot all about Jordan, did y'all find him?" She inquired.

"Yeah, he's just fine, looks like he was hiding out in the bushes the whole time. He probably never even went that far into the woods." Rick explained.

Beth felt like a fool for all the trouble she had put him and everyone else too.

"I'm so sorry." She said tearfully.

"I just wanted to help, but I screwed up."

He had been so relieved to find her unharmed that he hadn't let himself dwell on how irresponsible her actions had been. He looked into her eyes and he couldn't bring himself to chastise her. They had been lucky so far, that no one had been hurt or worse, and he decided he would just be grateful for that.

"Don't beat yourself up, you had to make a fast judgement call, and I know how hard that can be." Rick said as he gave her hand a squeeze of encouragement.

"Thank you, for coming after me, and for saving me." She said.

"That's okay, although you looked like you were holding your own back there." He lied so as not to knock her confidence.

"I only had one bullet left, and I almost shot you with it." Beth said with horror.

"But you didn't. Eighteen with a bullet; there's a song in that." Rick laughed, as he recalled an old record from the seventies that his dad used to play, but she didn't get the joke.

"I ain't eighteen yet." She said.

He looked at his watch to check on the time.

"Sorry, my mistake, I guess you'll still be seventeen for a little while longer." He smiled.

A sound up ahead suddenly shook them from their moment of levity and a small group of walkers started to emerge from out of the woodland. There were eight of them in total and Rick let go of Beth's hand and readied his gun.

"Follow my lead." He commanded as he pulled her back behind the treeline.

Rick crouched down behind a thick tree trunk with Beth at his back.

"We don't have the ammo to waste, and gunshots will only attract more of them to us." He whispered.

"We'll have to go deeper into the woods to get around them, and hope that there aren't too many more lurking in there." He spoke in a low voice close to her ear.

She wasn't sure if she was shaking through fear, or something else, but she gladly followed close behind him as they weaved through the trees. They reached a clearing and found themselves in the path of two walkers. Rick drew his machete and chopped deep into the skull of the one nearest to him. The other one made a lunge for Beth and she moved to evade it as she drew her knife. It then turned its attention to her companion and he swung around with his blade and decapitated it. She pulled back her blade and plunged it into the head to silence its snapping jaws. They had vanquished one threat, only for another to immediately present itself, as two more of the undead lumbered towards them. Rick lunged forward and brought his machete down with full force on top of one of the walkers. The other one looked set to take a bite out of him, but then Beth spun around and stabbed it hard in the back of the head. She shakily retrieved her knife and wiped the blood spray from her face.

"Thank you. C'mon we'd better keep moving." Rick held out his hand to a dazed Beth and they continued making their way through the woods.

They finally came back out onto the road that led to the prison, and they could just about see the dark silhouette of the guard towers against the black sky. The way ahead looked clear, but they both kept a close eye on their surroundings.

"Bet you never pictured spending your eighteenth birthday like this." Rick said as they walked together covered in blood and dirt.

Beth had recovered a little from their recent ordeal, and she smiled as she glanced at their joined hands.

"I don't know. It ain't so bad." She said.

He looked back at her with astonishment.

"I guess I'll always be daddy's little Bethy, and Maggie's kid sister, but after tonight, I feel like I'm my own woman now, too." She explained with a wide smile.

Rick smiled back and in that moment he felt like he was seeing her anew. She was no longer a girl who was young enough to be his daughter, but something else entirely. The thought made him uneasy, although probably not as much as it should have. He suddenly realised that were it not for her tender age, she would probably be his type.

"Now I just gotta avoid getting killed long enough to lose my virginity." Beth said in almost a whisper, so much so that she wasn't sure she'd said it out loud, until her companion reacted.

"Excuse me?" Rick exclaimed with shocked surprise.

"It ain't gonna be easy, all the guys back at the prison are either way too young, or they're old as dirt." She said in a way that suggested she had given serious consideration to the matter.

"Old as dirt, huh?" Rick laughed.

"I didn't mean you." Beth said as she blushed furiously and realised that she had said far too much already.

"I just meant that Glenn has Maggie, Tyreese seems pretty sweet on Michonne, and I always figured that Daryl and Carol would get it together, someday." She said.

"And me?" Rick knew he shouldn't have asked, it was dangerous territory, and he wasn't sure what he would do if she came on to him.

Beth realised that although she'd been feeling grown up, there were still many things she had yet to learn. She had practically no experience when it came to men, and flirting. She suddenly felt like she was in way over her head.

"I guess I just thought you'd just see me as some silly little girl with a crush." She answered more honestly than she'd intended to.

The realisation suddenly hit Rick, as he thought about all of her comforting gestures towards him, and how he'd so easily dismissed them before. It was true that Beth was demonstrative with her love for her father and sister. She was also very caring towards Judith and the other kids, but he was the only other adult that she openly showered affection on.

"I, um, don't know what to say." He finally mumbled.

She couldn't quite believe how she had let her mouth run away with itself. But it was too late to take it all back now and all she could do was cringe internally at her own stupidity.

"You don't have to say nothing, and I'm sorry for laying it on you like that. I know how much you loved Lori, and I'm not naive enough to think that I could ever take her place, nor would I want to. Lori saved my life back on the farm, if she hadn't pulled me away from Patricia when the walkers got her, then I woulda been ripped apart too. I'm happy just to be close to you, and to keep taking care of Judith. I want to be able to tell her, when she's old enough, what a brave and special lady her momma was." Beth said earnestly.

Rick was touched by her sincerity, and he felt tears forming in his eyes. He was strongly considering doing something that was either very brave, or very stupid, he wasn't sure which yet. Beth had a lot of qualities in common with Lori, and he was sure that he could return her affection, if he'd only let himself. He brought them both to a standstill and then he quickly checked their surroundings and his watch. She gave him a questioning look as he smiled at her and gently cupped her face in his hands.

"Happy birthday, Beth." He said and then he softly covered her lips with his own.

He kept the kiss short and sweet but it seemed to hit the spot as far as Beth was concerned. Because when he opened his eyes he saw that she was looking back at him with a mile-wide grin.

"I can't promise you anything, other than I'll think about this, okay?" Rick said honestly.

"It's more than I ever hoped for." She happily replied.

He had enjoyed kissing her, and was absolutely certain that he would want to do it again.

"Best. Birthday present. Ever." Beth said.

They both laughed and then continued on to the safety of the prison and a joyous reunion with all of their friends and family.

**THE END.**


End file.
